STATIC DISCLAIMER: All the stuff in here is purely my opinions, and they tend to change depending on what mood I'm in. If you're going to get bitter if I say something about you that you don't like, then maybe don't read. I avoid using names as much as possible, and would request that people who know me do the same in their comments. Basically, I often vent my frustrations on here, so if you happen to be someone who frustrates me, expect to read a description of someone very much like you in here!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

For me, it's interesting to be able to bear witness to something that critics of DRM have been predicting, that being the demise of DRM. It's technology that doesn't work logically, is designed to inhibit the use of a product both legitimate and otherwise, and ultimately is more useful at frustrating Joe Consumer who just wants to listen to some music on his MP3 player then it is at stopping Bill the Pirate from uploading CDs to The Pirate Bay. So the "it stops piracy" argument is obviously flawed - why then has DRM continued for so long to be such a big issue? Well, I think the linked article sums it up nicely. It was never about the pirates.

Do you know, I never realised that the very problem that copyright was invented to solve is now the problem that it legally enforces. Copyright was created to move content INTO the public domain, and now it's being used to keep content OUT of the public domain. Something has got to change. How on earth did companies who manage artists get so much power?

Friday, January 12, 2007

I can place this logo here without fear of legal retribution, as I am now officially a Filemaker 8 Certified Developer. Yaaay!!! Wooooo!!! I'm excited about the fact that I now have some form of IT certification, given that I've been working in this industry for quite a while and have been intending to get certified in SOMETHING for ages. Well, Filemaker is my first.

Now for the legal requirement:The FileMaker 8 Certified Developer logo is a trademark of FileMaker, Inc. in the United States and other countries

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

So the Church of Steve all got together overnight to be told what new tech they should get excited about. Here's the run down of the keynote:

1.) iPhone. This year, for US zealots.2.) Partnerships involving iPhone - Google and Yahoo. Singular/AT&T for carrier.3.) *TV, where "*" represents an Apple symbol. From here on, called AppleTV.4.) "Apple Computer Inc." now called "Apple Inc."

Here's my POV on these:

1.) iPhoneFirstly, expect a lawsuit involving Apple vs. Linksys and Cisco shortly about the name.Second, we all knew this was coming. It's an iPod and a phone. Together. In one box. Now, out of everything announced at this keynote, this is the only thing of any real merit. The iPod brand is strong and the design recognition is also. iPhone adheres to the iPod simplicity of design and interface, and generally is an impressive looking device. Now here's where my praise of it ends.Firstly, it's running OSX. I hate OSX. But aside from my personal distaste of it, putting a desktop OS on a phone seems like a bad idea to me. Memory management and OS functions surely are built with assumptions of cache/memory/processor/storage configurations that are just not possible in a phone. However, I'm willing to be proven wrong.The next thing that irked me was Steve making a big ol' claim about owning the patents for multi-touch touchscreen interfaces. OH MY GOSH. While none of the linked videos prove that Apple don't own the patent, I'd like to note also I've seen video of HP and another company demoing multitouch screens in coffee tables at tech shows. I can't see that Apple's patent could be on anything other then their specific design implementation. Expect to see the competition doing simular things shortly, despite Steve's claims of exclusivity.

2.) Partnerships for iPhoneGoogle, Yahoo, Singular and AT&T (I don't know the relationships between the last two) were all showcased as providers with services for iPhone. Looks like they haven't done particularly much - I don't really understand it all, but Yahoo's push-email service seems... expected? a requirement? It's a shame my Exchange server at home will do this, and has been able to do this for quite a while - to ANY Windows Mobile phone, and I believe Palm ones too. Not impressed. But hey - nice that they've set these up for people who buy the iPhone. Seriously - I think iPhone is a reasonable offering, minus the OSX factor.

3.) The Device Formally Known as "iTV"There was only one piece of information about this I don't remember being in last year's keynote, and that's that it will output 720p resolution via HDMI. Whoo. As I predicted previously, iTV *is* just an iTunes player.Justin's official line on this product is that it blows. Why? Because you can do everything it does for cheaper, and without being locked in to Apple's iTunes/iPod model for content, and DRM scheme. And, as previously stated, it's yet ANOTHER device for your livingroom that does one very specific subset of what you need to do. It doesn't record TV. It doesn't play DVDs. It doesn't connect to your cable/satelite box. It sure as heck doesn't do anything with HD-DVD/BluRay technology. So why waste your money? Buy a cheap-ass hard disk recorder that will play back DivX/XVID/Mpeg4 content, and get your content from wherever you like. If you're willing to spend a bit more, a PC running Media Center (with AMD LIVE! for added value) and you'll get an easy to use system for displaying digital content in the living room that does a million bazillion times more useful stuff then AppleTV. Perhaps even a brazillian times more.If you buy this product, you are nothing more then a zealot. So either suck it up and admit that Steve is your pimp, or be sensible and buy a device that is more then just a glorified expensive iPod with HDMI.

4.) The name changePersonally, I see this as an "about time" event. Apple's computer offerings have picked up some new sales recently, granted, but overall - it's not what's keeping them afloat as a business. In particular, Apple will claim OSX as a superior OS in one breath, and then say they're not a software company in the next. Let's be honest - Apple is now about consumer electronics, and one of those items just happens to be a shiney white plastic coated computer, which is now completely capable of running OS's other then Mac's OSX. For those of you who remember Dvorak's prediction that Macs would eventually be running Windows full-time, note that we're already halfway there. Every Mac in my office now has a copy of Windows installed on it, even though the users are all die hard Mac adherents. Why is that? Because they need Windows to run an effective business. It's just life, zealots, get over it. Windows dominates because it's a good OS, where "good" is not necissarily defined as being built on *nix. (Not saying *nix based OS's are bad... just that Windows can be good without being based on it) I have more points, but I really should get to work now...

Summary:Less then impressive keynote, with one impressive device - iPhone. iPhone still needs to be identified as being functional as well as pretty before I'll give it too much credit. I guess we'll see.Mac zealots to buy millons worth of iTVs, even though they already own multiple devices that do the same job.Apple finally identify themselves as not being a computer company. Something Windows users have known for years.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

This is the first photo that has ever been taken of our new baby, now affectionatley given the in-utero name of "Button". For those that don't know, our son was named "Pud" (short for pudding) before he was born, and we've decided to make it somewhat of a tradition that we select names for them that they'll be called while they're still enjoying the comforts of my wife's internal organs.The only thing this scan was to tell us is how far along we are, and today we are officially 11 weeks and 2 days. Woohoo! Just slightly further then we thought. As a side note, the scan also told us our baby has 2 legs, and 2 arms - which I'm sure you'll agree is the best number of legs and arms.I also now have a vague suspicion we *may* be having another boy. Just was looking at that picture again and suspecting there may be some male bits in view. Anyway - I'm no sonographer or whatever they're called, so we shall see... :)